On this site we strive to give an overview of who we are and what we have achieved in the last twelve years of operation in the Eastern Africa region. We appreciate the fact that our services continue to focus on local people with information and knowledge using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Our main activities are geared towards meeting the information needs of the communities we work with and giving them skills they require to access information and knowledge through our community based Maarifa centres.

Our work has received a boost from recent developments in the ICT sector especially the growth of the mobile telephony which have given impetus to the opening up of the rural areas to harness the potential of new technologies. This scenario has opened many other opportunities in voice and data in the rural communities. Despite this potential, many people lack the skills needed to tap into this potential hence ALIN’s focus in the development of ICTs resources in the Maarifa (Knowledge) centre model. By investing in these centres, ALIN hopes to empower people to use technology to promote community development and bring services such as skills development, e-commerce and e-learning closer to the people. The Maarifa centres are also the hubs that create local opportunities for the people through Business Process Outsourcing.

In developing people’s skills and creating ICT opportunities, ALIN ensures that people are put before technology and research and deploy ICTs that blend with traditional information systems. This strategy is informed by the following factors; communities in arid areas lack the means to access and to share transformative knowledge, they do not have adequate skills and competencies to access needed knowledge and there is lack of knowledge exchange nodes in arid lands of East Africa.

I would like to thank our donors and other partners for the invaluable support they have accorded ALIN. We look forward to receiving your comments on this site through info@alin.net.